The government of the Peoples Republic of China released the National Climate Change Programme in June 2007. This policy paper outlines the impacts that China faces from climate change.

It also sets out a strategy to address climate change and sustainable development, including by way of mitigation actions that China envisages and has already adopted.

These include -

economic restructuring

energy efficiency improvement

vehicle emission standards

participation in international R&D programmes

development and utilisation of hydropower and other renewable energy

ecological restoration and protection

family planning

Many of these policies are from the eleventh five year plan, which runs from 2006 to 2011. The National Climate Change Programme also indicates challenges in lowering the countrys CO2 intensity, given its existing resources (abundant coal), the resulting lock-in of coal-based energy infrastructure, limited access to more efficient technologies and limited finance.

A key to the countries contribution to lower greenhouse gases is its official energy efficiency objective of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20% by 2010 and of quadrupling GDP between 2000 and 2020 while only doubling energy use. In addition to this general goal, the government is to take measures to close small, less efficient industrial facilities in sectors including iron and steel, cement, aluminium, copper, glass or ceramics.